Brave Motorola Droid X Owners Can Install an Unofficial Android OS 2.2 Upgrade

UPDATE
Motorola is sending cease and desist orders to websites responsible for distributing the beta version of Android OS 2.2 for the Droid X.

The reason being given is that the upgrade contains software that is copyrighted by Motorola, and therefore this company has the right to control how this material is distributed.

As a result, the early version of the operating system upgrade for the Droid X is no longer available on the Web. The official version is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

The Motorola Droid X's official upgrade to Android OS 2.2 isn't expected for several more weeks, but those who are getting impatient can go ahead and install a beta version.

The smartphone debuted last month running Android OS 2.1, and an upgrade to the next version is definitely in development. When this is going to be out hasn't been announced, and unofficial source say it won't be available until early next month.

A beta version is available now, but is not the final one, and likely contains bugs that will be fixed later. Still, reports from those who have installed it indicate that it's usable.

Manually installing pre-release software is not authorized by either Verizon or Motorola. The cautious can wait a few weeks, and Android OS 2.2 will be sent to their phone when it can be installed in the approved manner.

New in Android OS 2.2
The latest version of Google's mobile operating system is required for devices to run Adobe Flash Player 10.1, which allows the web browser to fully make use of websites that use Flash for navigation, games, and showing video. However, Adobe Flash Player 10.1 itself hasn't been released yet.

Android OS 2.2 also contains a number of other small enhancements, such as the ability to store applications on a removable memory card.

Installation Instructions
Those who are interested in doing the unauthorized update should do the following:

• Make sure the Droid X has at least a half battery charge before starting this process
• Download the system software update
• Put it in the root directory of the microSD card
• Turn off the phone
• Turn the Droid X back on while holding down the Home key
• The smartphone will boot in recovery mode, indicated by an image of a triangle with a exclamation point appearing on the screen
• Press the Search button
• This will bring up an on-screen menu. User the Volume Up/Down keys to move to and select "apply update.zip" with the camera button
• The update process will begin, and take several minutes.
• When it is finished and the on-screen menu appears again, choose "Reboot"
• When the Droid X starts again, it will be running the beta of Android OS 2.2

Some homescreen widgets need to be removed and then replaced to work correctly.

Overview of the Motorola Droid X
This recently-released smartphone has a tablet shape dominated by a 4.3-inch WVGA (480 x 800) touchscreen.

The Droid X runs Google Android OS on a 1 GHz processor, and is bundled with a suite of communication and entertainment software, such as a powerful web browser, Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, plus music and video players. Users also have access to the over 50,000 applications available in Android Market.

Naturally, the Droid X supports Verizon's 3G mobile broadband (EV-DO Rev. A) network, and also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a GPS receiver.

This Motorola model is well supplied with other cutting-edge features, like an 8 megapixel camera/video recorder, 8 GB of internal storage, and an 8 GB microSD memory card.

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